Ballasting device for moored dirigibles



Oct. 14, 1930. o. KRELL 1,778,394

BALLASTING DEVICE FOR MOORED DIRIGIBLES Filed Feb. 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l 177 lie/ 201.

@ aojv wli Oct. 14,1930. RE 1,778,394

BALLAS'IING DEVICE FOR MOORED DIRIGIBLES Filed Feb. 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES OTTOIKRELL, or BERLIN-DAHLEM, GERMANY BALLASTING DEVICE FOR .MOORED DIRIGIBLES Application filed February 5, 1929, Serial N 0.

My invention relates to improvements in ballasting devices for moored dirigibles.

In one of my prior patents I have proposed to protect a moored dirigible against vertical gusts of wind by suspending at its rear end a chain-like combination of ballast members. During the descent and ascent of the rear portion of the dirigible the ballast members will be deposited 011 the ground and be raised off 10. it again.

Apart from these movements of the dirigible caused by vertical gusts of wind, the dirigiblealso follows the changes in the direction' of the Wind. If now the ballast Weight, drawn by the tail portion of the airship, would be dragged along the ground, it would strongly interfere with the free motion of the dirigible in horizontal direction.

According to my invention the ballast 20 member is supported upon a suitable truck adapted tofollow the movements of the dirig'ible in a horizontal direction. In order not to impair the mobility of the truck by unnecessary weights, it is necessary to keep the travelling weight of the loading member as low as possible. According to another feature of my invention this is attained by the cable carrying the loading weight not being directly attached to the rear portion of the dirigible, but by being passed over a-pulley attached to the underside of the dirigible. In this way only half the ballast is necessary for damping or steadying the vertical movements of the dirigible than would be necessary in case of direct suspension. In this arrangement double the path of the ballast weight corresponds to single the path of the tail of the dirigible in the vertical, so that the damping action becomes very sensitive. The load ing member is preferably composed of a number of chains combined into a tassel. In this way it ispossible to compose the loading weight in such a manner, that the ballast increases or decreases during the ascent and descent of the dirigible in accurately predetermined steps or stages, for instance in an arithmetical series.

The truck for the loading Weight is naturally exposed to the danger of being upset owing tothe sometimes very sudden move- 337,647, and in Germany February 16, 1928.

ments of the dirigible. According to a still further feature of my invention this is counteracted by providing on the truck carrying the ballast, for instance a caterpillar tractor, as source of current, a storage battery, the in this case desirable high weight of which concentrated at a suitable point of the caterpillar tractor prevents the tractor from being upset. The tractor will be given at least double standard gauge to prevent its tipping over sideways. Since it is necessary that the truck carrying the ballast should be able to turn in a small circle, the caterpillars with their driving wheels are pivoted to the underframe and joined together by connecting rods to form a parallelogram. Each Wheel of the caterpillar tractor is furthermore adapted to be driven independently of the others by an electric motor. The pair of motors at one side may then run at an equal or any desired other speed and also in the same or the opposite direction to the pair of motors at the other side. If the pairs of motors run in an opposite direction, but at equal s Jeeds, the tractor is able to turn around its own axis.

To facilitate the placing of the ballast chain tassel into and its withdrawal from the tractor, the wheel base of the tractor is equipped with a trouglrlike superstructure, the walls of which flare outwards at the top. At its front the tractor carries an electrically operated winch with drum for the reception of the supporting cable of the chain tassel.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. l, is a total view of the application of my invention to a dirigible,

Fig. 2, is a sectional elevation of a truck for carrying the loading weight, here shown as caterpillar tractor, and the pulley attached to the dirigible and across which the supporting cable is passed,

F 8. shows a sketch of a chain tassel, and

Figs. 4 and 5, are plans of a preferred design of a caterpillar tractor suitable for carrying the loading weight.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawings L is the dirigible moored with its nose to the mast or tower on the roof of a hangar by means of a running crab K. Near its tail the dirigible is provided with a pulley 1 over which runs the cable 5, which at one end carries the loading weight b and with its other end passes onto the cable drum S on the truck R which carries the ballast b and which is shown in the form of a caterpillar tractor. By the application of the pulley 9", whereby direct suspension of the cable 3 on the dirigible L is avoided, only half the weight of the chain is necessary for steadying the movements of the dirigible as compared with the direct attachment of the supporting cable on the dirigible. The caterpillar tractor B, Fig. 2, carries on its front part the rope winch to with the drum S. From the drum S the rope s passes'over the pulley 1, pivoted on the dirigible, and carries on its other end the chain 7). This chain acting as ballast body may be constructed in various ways. In Fig. 2 of the drawings the links of the chain increase in size and weight.

In this way the load increases and decreases to a definite extent during the ascent and descent of the rear portion of the dirigible, for instance in the form of an arithmetical series. The free buoyancy of the dirigible may in this way be regulated in any desired manner. Since the manufacture of difierent chain links is expensive and replacement difficult, it is preferable to effect the increase or decrease of the load by means of chains with uniform links, i. e. ordinary chains, combined into a tassel. The chain tassel Q consists of a number of chains a all composed ofsimilar links and which branch in the points a, a, a and so on. The branching in the points a is such, that a regular increase and decrease of the load takes place during the ascent and descent of the tail of the dirigible;

Y 1 On its rear part the caterpillar tractor R,

2, carries a trough-like extension T, the walls 0 of which bend outwards to fac1l1tate a smooth running in of the chalns, which is liable to swing to and fro. By means of the Which to and the hook it the chain may be pulled on to'the caterpillar tractor across the rear wall 0 adapted to be folded down around the hinge (Z. The source of energy for driving the Winch 'w and the caterpillar tractor B is a storage battery, which is located as low as possible on the tractor in order to keep the center of gravity of the entire vehicle as low as possible. The weight of the battery is then at the same time a suitable load to increase the stability of the vehicle. To steady the tractor still further a gauge has been chosen for the vehicle, which is at least double that of the standard .gauge of an ordinary tractor, see Figs. 4' and 5. To enable the movements of the tail of the dirigible to be followed quickly with such a vehicle, it is necessary that it should be able to turn quickly. For this purpose the caterpillars K and I with the pair of wheels 7" and 1'" are pivotedin the points Dand D on the truck. The con.-

motor m and m" of its own. The pairs of motors m and m may be so connected, that with equal directions of rotation and with equal speed and with a corresponding adjustment of the connecting rod parallelogram they serve for driving'straight ahead or diagonally sideways, that when the speeds of the caterpillars differ the vehicle turns towards one side or the other, and finally that if the caterpillars rotate in opposite direction the vehicle turns around its axis. The capacity for turning is thus unrestricted and the speed with which the tractor is able to change its direction in this way is ample to follow the movements of the dirigible.

It will be understood, however, that it is by no means necessary that the vehicle for carrying the ballast should be a caterpillar tractor. It might equally well be a vehicle with ordinary wheels or wheels adapted to the ground to be traversed. I The ballast weight might, of course, consist of other means than a tassel or bunch of chains, for instance, of balls, plates or the like. It is also imaginable and within the ambit of my invention to use a multiple pulley or a pulley block instead of the simple pulley in order to reduce the weight of theballast still more and to render the damping still more sensitive. Instead of the storage battery an internal combustion motor might be used, or the electric motors on'the vehicle might be fed by a cable. 1

It will be obvious that my invention extends to all systems, which use a variable ballast weight for compensating the buoyancy of a dirigible and carry this weight on a vehicle capable of following rapidly and closely all movements of the tail of the moored airship. The automatic control of the caterpillar tractor or a similar vehicle by the motion of'the rope as soon as is deflected in any direction beyondan angle to the vertical by rendering operative suitably arranged control relays falls within the ambit of my invention, as also the remote control of the vehicle. 7

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and the appended claims and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations should be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art. What I claim is: 1. In a ballastin'g device for moored dirigibles, a tassel of chains of uniform dimensions suspended from the tail of said dirigible, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases continuously when the tail end of the moored dirigible ascends or descends.

2. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases continuously, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, comprising a trough-like body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and means for attaching the other end of said cable.

3. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases continuously, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, comprising a troughlike body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and an electrically operated cable drum mounted on its front part for the reception of the other end of said cable.

4. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases continuously, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, comprising a troughdike body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and an electrically operated cable drum mounted on its front part for the reception of the other end of said cable, and a storage battery for driving said tractor and serving as ballast for it.

5. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases continuously, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, the wheel gage of which is at least double the standard gage, comprising a trough-like body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and means for attaching the other end of said cable.

6. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases in arithmetical series, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, the wheel gage of which is at least double the standard gage, said caterpillars being pivotally connected to said tractor, hinged connecting rods joiningthe front and back wheels of the caterpillars, said tractor comprising a trough-like body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and means for attaching the other end of said cable.

7. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases in arithmetical series, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, the wheel gage of which is at least double the standard gage, said caterpillars being pivotally connected to said tractor, hinged connecting rods joining the front and back wheels of the caterpillars, separate electric motors for driving each of said caterpillar wheels, said tractor comprisin a trough-like body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and means for attaching the other end of said cable.

8. In a ballasting device for moored dirigibles, in combination, a pulley mounted on the tail of the dirigible, a cable passing over said pulley, a tassel of chains attached to one end of said cable, said chains being so arranged that the ballast increases or decreases in arithmetical series, and a caterpillar tractor for carrying said tassel, the wheel gage of which is at least double the standard gage, said caterpillars being pivotally connected to said tractor, hinged connecting rods jointhe front and back wheels of the caterpillars, separate electric motors for driving each of said caterpillar wheels, the pairs of driving motors of each caterpillar being adapted to run synchronously with one another for straight or diagonal travel, well as with different speeds and directions to facilitate turning, said tractor comprising a trough-like body with outwards bent walls with the rear wall adapted to be folded down and means for attaching the other end of said cable.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

OTTO KRELL. 

